Project 2766: The Maiden Voyage
by Foxsoul
Summary: AU First of the 2766 series. Will do more Ace stories for other books or shows. T for Violence. First complete Fanfic, please RR!


Project 2766: Maiden Voyage

--Luke-  
Why do I have to be a temporal freak? Sure, my knowledge rivals that of the Ellimist and Crayak, but I'm still a human teen at heart. From my point of view, it all started with my enrollment in that government school for kids with ESP. We had to stomach genetically engineered food and putas gruesas teaching us quantum bullcrap that any sci-fi fan worth his lightsaber would be able to figure out on the spot. But I'm getting ahead of myself. I am Lieutenant Luke Smith, NSA, with the Temporal Balance Preservation Task Force, or just Project 2766. As a mission nears completion, I call myself Ace. My job is to preserve the temporal balance by changing alternate realities. These alternate realities have been recorded by a special group of people who can pick up on the energy of these alterniverses. They are referred to as fiction by the general public. The first mission I completed was in the same reality as the n-dimensional beings I mentioned before. I had to prevent the already-recorded death of Rachel Berenson. My only tools were shape-shifting, ninjutsu, and a coffin-sized space luge. I entered their universe by a carefully-plotted course through a black hole. I arrived on Earth a few weeks before the Yeerks arrived in force. I went through high school with the Animorphs. I even dated Rachel after Tobias became a nothlit. I fell in love with her, even though I knew she loved Tobias. This made my final sacrifice easier to make.

--Rachel-  
(A/N: Apologies if Rachel seems a bit OC; I am male, after all)  
This is it. The final strike against the Yeerk Empire. I demorphed from fly and morphed to grizzly. I heard Jake's voice speaking to Visser 3, heard the infernal slug respond. I charged onto the bridge and destroyed everything I could. When I came out of my battle rage, I found myself demorphed and on the ground, a polar bear towering over me. I looked at the screen, saw Tobias in human form, crying for me. He sobbed, "I love you!" I confessed, "I love you, Tobias." Then I saw the bear's claw slash into me, felt it rip through me. Then, things snapped back to before the bear attacked. A grey gorilla charged into the room, slamming straight into the polar bear and using his shoulder to push him into a sparking control panel. He demorphed into Luke, the guy I had been dating! What was he doing here? He was wearing an all-grey jumpsuit, with an orange sweatband on his head. He yelled over his shoulder, "Go to my ship! It's in Docking Bay 90!" I hesitated. The polar bear woke up and slashed his ribcage. He staggers, then grabs a loose electrical cable and jabs it into the bear, causing it to convulse until its heart stopped. He staggered over to the remaining console that worked and programmed a self-destruct. "Go," he said. I replied, "Not without you!" "Go! This is destiny! Someone has to die here! I, Ace, make this sacrifice of my own will. I will not cease to exist. I will continue my mission, and we will see each other again! GO!" As he said this, he pushed me out the door. I ran to his ship, launched, and docked with my fellow Animorphs. Just before the ship we had been on exploded, we received a voice message. All it said was "I love you, Rachel. Live a long and peaceful life with Tobias. Ace out." I leaned into Tobias, his arms around me, as I watched the destruction of the ship, a fitting tribute to Luke - no, Ace - and his sacrifice. I'll never forget you, Ace.

--20 years later: Luke-  
I am perched in a tree, watching Rachel, Tobias, and their happy family as they play in the park. Tobias had finally morphed human and stayed. After a while, Rachel and Tobias sit down on the bench beneath my perch. Silently, I drop behind the bench, then stand up and lean on the back. Rachel looks up at me, while Tobias jumps up and prepares to attack me. "Fine children you got there, Xena. How're you and Hawkboy doing?" She jumps up and looks me over, then hugs me, saying, "Ace! You came back!" Tobias, finally recognizing me, calls to the kids, "Come meet your Uncle Ace!" I got swarmed by two nine-year-olds, and a sixteen-year-old came up and stuck out his hand. "You must be Dacen," I say as I shake his hand, then kneel down and say, "And you two must be Ty and Kaira!" I stand up and say to Dacen, "2766?" He nods. I smile, knowing that he's following in my footsteps. I say my goodbyes and leave, having seen what might not have been. 


End file.
